"The only times that it gets hard for me is when I'm playing different games at the same time," Danilo said, looking down at his two cards and tossing them over towards the muck. "Playing...eight tables of Holdem at once, that's just like breathing to me, but if you get me playing...Holdem on two tables, Omaha on two tables, Stud on two tables, and Razz on two tables, then it becomes one hell of a juggling act. That's actually pretty hard."
"Pretty hard?" Takeru repeated. "Pretty hard?" He shook his head. "You online guys, I...you guys make me feel inadequate, really."
"Nobody can make you feel inadequate," Tom Bonomo said. "You're Takeru Ishida. The Prince of Poker."
"Such a bad nickname," Takeru grumbled. "So bad. So corny. I feel like someone...forty years ago should have gotten stuck with that nickname, and I should get something a little more intricate."
"So we have official word from Takeru that he does NOT care for his nickname. Duly noted. But people don't get to pick their nicknames, so he'll just have to get used to it. Harold folds the hijack, nobody has opened this pot yet. For those of you just joining us, we're a few hours into the World Poker Tour's Brugal High Roller event, still have most of our players alive. Twenty-five thousand dollar entry fee, and rebuys are on. Any player who busts out can rebuy back into the tournament for twenty-five grand extra, so our prize pool is actually still growing. Rebuy period ends in about an hour."
Takeru looked down at his cards.
"Looks like we're gonna play Guess The Cards this hand, so we're not going to see Takeru's hole cards until the hand is over. Takeru is on the button here."
"Well, if we're playing Guess The Cards with his hand, I can only assume that means he's going to get involved, but that doesn't really tell us anything. Button raises can mean absolutely anything."
Takeru grabbed three light blue chips and two black chips, sliding them out into the pot.
"Takeru has raised here, that's a raise to...thirty-two hundred. The big blind was fourteen hundred, so it's...about two and a half times the big blind."
"Takeru had about...one hundred and seventy grand in chips to start his hand, so...really can't make any determinations on his cards yet, his button opening range is obviously extremely wide."
Mitch Rodriguez, after seeing the small blind to his right fold his hand, looked down at what he had.
"Well, I'm sure Mitch is going to at least call here, I don't think we'd put on Guess The Cards if the hand didn't actually have some action. Mitch is holding jack nine of spades."
Mitch threw out two light blue chips, taking back two blacks from his big blind.
"Alright, we've got two players to the flop. We know what Mitch has, Takeru's holdings are a secret. Both players have nearly identical stacks, Mitch has about...three thousand more chips."
The dealer put down ten of hearts, eight of hearts, and three of hearts.
"Well, ten eight three flop, all hearts. Actually a pretty good flop for Mitch, he's got an...up-and-down straight draw, needs a seven or a queen."
Mitch checked, tapping the table.
"Yeah, pretty good flop, but there are three hearts out there, so maybe not a great flop, but it's hard to flop a flush, you can't just give Takeru credit for a flush automatically regardless of how the action goes."
Takeru tossed out four light blue chips in short order.
"The pot is eight point three thousand, Takeru bets less than half of it, that is a continuation bet of four grand. Still don't really know anything about Takeru's hand, he's opening the button with a ton of stuff, and he's going to c-bet the flop with a ton of stuff."
Mitch pursed his lips, looking down at his chips, then back up to the flop.
"Rodriguez has to at least call here, I think, even with the...hearts out there, he's flopped quite well. He's got the straight draw and one overcard. And it's pretty cheap as well, only four thousand more."
Mitch got out a full stack of light blue chips, taking seven off of the top of the column, and pushing the larger stack in.
"He might even check-raise, and...yes, that is exactly what's happening here, he's check-raising as a semi-bluff, that is a raise to thirteen thousand, so nine thousand more. Bold play, but I like it. Pushes the pot to over twenty-five grand, and could take it down right now."
Takeru shuffled a small pile of chips around for a moment, staring down at the board.
"So, if Takeru just has nothing, or some sort of small pocket pair, we'll see him fold. But it looks like he's going to make this call, so he certainly has to have something if he's sticking around."
Takeru slid out a stack of light blue chips, nine high, calling the raise.
"Yes, he has called, and Mitch is not happy about this, he...he was definitely hoping Takeru didn't have a piece of that flop and would just have to fold."
"So, Takeru could have...he could have a pocket pair, jacks or better. Could have a ten or an eight. He might have a big heart in his hand, ace, king, or queen of hearts. He could have a straight draw with a big heart, like queen jack with the queen of hearts."
"Does he ever have a flush or set?"
The dealer spun out the seven of clubs.
"I don't think so, but...ooh, Mitch has made his hand, that seven gives him the jack high straight, Mitch getting at least a little happier here."
"Yeah, he still has to be a little concerned about the three hearts, but he usually has the best hand here with the nut straight. As for Takeru, I feel like...if he had a flush or a set, or possibly even two pair, he'd re-raise the flop. Maybe he'd just call with the nut flush to trap, but with smaller flushes, you want to protect against a fourth heart in case your opponent has the ace of hearts. But Takeru is capable of just about anything, so I guess you can't rule it out."
Mitch tossed out a green chip along with eight light blue chips.
"Yeah, Mitch isn't quite thrilled yet, but he's going to bet here, Takeru just has a ton of hands here like...you know, ace ten with the ace of hearts. A pair and a draw, or maybe combo draws, that Mitch can't give a free card to. If Takeru did flop a flush, then so be it, but you've got to play your hand like the monster that it is."
Takeru built a small stack of chips, one green and eight light blue, and pushed it out.
"Takeru IS going to make the call, this pot is over seventy thousand, and...what would Takeru play like this?"
"Uh...well, I don't think he has a naked pair anymore. I think at the minimum, he has a pair and draw, like ten nine, or a pair with a big heart. Might be a combo draw as well. My feeling is that he has the ace of hearts in his hand, but I don't know what the other card is yet."
The dealer burned and rivered the seven of spades.
"Okay, the board pairs on the turn, so two sevens out there, not really a good card for Mitch. He's now losing to...quite a few hands that Takeru could have that he was beating on the turn. So Mitch, I think he's got two choices here, he can either check to call, or bet with the plan of folding to a raise."
Mitch, after taking a few seconds, pointed over towards Takeru.
"He is checking here, action over to Takeru, and...well, if that seven helped him, he'll probably bet here for value. And if he had a big heart in his hand that missed the flush, he could also bet here as a bluff, since that seven looks like a bad card for Mitch. What's he gonna do?"
Takeru shuffled a stack of black chips around, glancing around the table, eyeballs spinning about.
"I think it would make some sense for Takeru to have hands like...ten seven or eight seven here, so those hands are definitely worth a value bet here. He could have flopped a set as well, he might have...played cautiously because of the three hearts out there. If he has one of those hands, he'll probably fire out like...thirty-five to forty thousand for value, and I think Mitch will have to call, even if he doesn't love it. If he has just a pair, like maybe he had a pair of tens and a flush draw, he'll check and hope that Mitch has the big heart that bricked out."
"All-in," Takeru said.
"Whoooaaa, Takeru SHOVES here! He shoves one hundred and thirty-five thousand into seventy thousand, that's nearly double the pot, and...wow, what's Mitch gonna do here?!"
Mitch winced, grimacing as he looked over at Takeru.
"What...what kind of bet is that by Takeru?! What does he have that he would risk his entire stack on?! Such a sick spot for Mitch, he looks like he's gonna be sick, and I can't blame him!"
Mitch sighed heavily. "Wow."
"I mean, when Takeru shoves for double the pot here, he's got only a few kinds of hands. He can have a full house, I...I guess maybe quads too. He can have a flush, probably a big flush, the nut flush. And then he has bluffs, like the dry ace of hearts or king of hearts, hands that missed that he's trying to buy the pot with. And if you're Mitch, you must be thinking that...that Takeru wouldn't risk ALL his chips on a bluff, right? But then again, if he had a big hand like a full house, wouldn't he bet normally so he can get called by weaker hands?"
Mitch tossed a blue coaster towards the dealer.
"Yeah, THIS is a hand to use your timebank chip, he's got an extra minute to think about this. If he calls and gets it wrong, he's basically out of the tournament, he'll have about two big blinds left. Obviously he can rebuy, but...not everyone has the extra twenty-five grand laying around. And with the way this hand went, Mitch can only beat bluffs, and...man, I guess a player like Takeru is capable of anything, but I'm just not sure he's betting double the pot on a bluff when it sort of looks like Mitch has a flush!"
"I call," Mitch said, tossing a handful of chips out into the pot.
"Oh, we've got a call, so we're gonna find out what Takeru had!"
Takeru turned over the ten of clubs and ten of diamonds.
"And Takeru had pocket tens! He had top set which filled up on the river!"
Mitch nodded. "Yeah, that's a...good hand."
"Wow, and...what a sick hand, that might be the sickest hand of the tournament so far! That is a three hundred and forty-one thousand chip pot, and it's going to Takeru, he got FULL value out of his hand! Most players would NOT have taken that line on the river, but Takeru decided to go for it all and he got it!"
"I'm probably not even gonna look at my cards this hand," Mitch said, with a thin smile as almost all of his chips were sent over to Takeru. "Just going in with whatever."
"I don't think you can fault Mitch for calling there, Takeru has shown the ability to pull off big bluffs in recent tournaments, and it's hard to let go of a straight. I'm sure he was going to instantly call a bet of...thirty-five thousand, maybe fifty thousand at most, but Takeru decided he wasn't going to let him off so easy!"
"Yeah, he...he got the sense that Mitch had a big hand that he liked, but didn't love, and felt like he was planning to check-call a normal-sized bet, and he figured...if he's going to call fifty grand, maybe he'll call the whole thing. What a great play!"
OOO
"So this is Takeru's first ever tournament cash in a non-world series event. It's also his first ever cash in a tournament on this side of the globe."
"Got any other useless statistics for us, Jim?"
"Hey, our statistics department resents that!"
Takeru scratched the bridge of his nose. "I spent forty dollars on a bowl of soup in Panok. If you're gonna go, you better have some serious spending money. I don't even think there are any cheap places to eat there." He played with a small stack of chips, spinning it around in his hand.
"He's having a good day two, looks on pace to do much more than just cash."
"It was pretty good soup, though," Ken muttered, looking down at his cards.
"Ken Ichijouji's under the gun, and he's got jack ten offsuit. This is also HIS first non-world series cash. Although his day two hasn't been quite so good."
"Jack ten is tempting, but given position and stack sizes, he probably shouldn't get involved. He's only got about forty big blinds here."
Ken fired out two purple chips along with a light blue one.
"He is going to get involved, he raises to eleven thousand."
Ike Tate glanced down at his cards before quickly folding.
"Day two of the Brugal High Roller continues on, with all remaining players in the money. We started with three hundred and ninety-five players, down to fifty-eight now. Prize pool has been juiced up by rebuys, we had a total of forty-five extra buyins. Blinds are twenty-five hundred and five thousand with a thousand chip ante."
Takeru, after having action folded around to him, had a glance down at the ace of diamonds and five of hearts.
"Takeru's in the small blind with the bad ace. Hasn't folded yet."
"I'm gonna go out on a limb here and say that there MIGHT be some history between these two players. You know, it's possible they've played a few hands together over the years."
Takeru gathered together five purple chips and placed four light blue ones on top of them, pushing this stack out and taking his small blind back.
"That is a RAISE to twenty-nine thousand. Takeru does have a good stack, he's right around four hundred thousand, and he's going to try to wield it. Gets the big blind to fold."
"This has to be a product of the history these two players no doubt have. About as non-standard a play as you'll find in high level poker to re-raise with a bad ace from the blinds."
Ken rubbed his chin, looking over at the chips Takeru had just pushed in.
"We actually just got word that Miyako Inoue, Ken's girlfriend, was just eliminated from the ten thousand dollar buyin event in the Lodden Nationals in seventh place, good for a cash of over six hundred thousand dollars. Ken probably doesn't know yet, but surely he knew that she was making a deep run."
"Another young professional making waves."
Ken tossed out four purple chips, the dealer quickly firing two light blue ones back towards him.
"Ken will make the call. We've got a pretty significant pot here. Ken is the effective stack, he's got about one-seventy behind. Takeru leads with ace high."
"His hand is a little light to be calling a re-raise, but it was a pretty small re-raise, so he might have felt priced in. These two good friends might be having a bit of a water closet contest."
The dealer put down the three of clubs, two of diamonds, and jack of diamonds.
"Takeru leads no longer, Ken makes top pair. Takeru has a gutshot wheel draw."
Takeru looked down at his chips for a few seconds.
"And what's up with the small three-bet out of position with a bad ace? I would call these plays by both players bad, but I assume there's more going on here than just meets the eye."
Takeru tossed out four purple chips.
"Finally we get a standard play out of this hand, Takeru continues with ace high and a gutshot for twenty grand."
"Fairly dry board, Ken will have to fold a lot of hands here. He will NOT be folding the hand he has."
Ken quickly parsed through his chips, getting together eight purples and two light blues.
"Looks like he's putting together a raise, and not a particularly big one either, that's..forty-two thousand, basically a min-raise!"
"Another strange play! Even though he has top pair, his hand isn't really good enough to be raising for value. And the min-raise isn't likely going to get rid of any hands that have equity."
Takeru's eyes narrowed a couple millimeters as he shuffled some chips around.
"Well...Takeru isn't ready to release quite yet. Maybe he's putting Ken on the diamond flush draw."
"Takeru knows that he has the ace of diamonds in his hand, so if Ken has a flush draw, it can't be the ace-high flush draw. Which would mean that Takeru's ace-high would currently be the best hand. He might actually call thinking he has the best hand with ace high."
Takeru tossed out four more purple chips and two light blue ones.
"He does call, and this play is actually working out well for Ken. It seems like he's got Takeru thinking he has a semi-bluff when he actually has marginal value. One hundred and thirty-seven thousand in the middle."
The turn card produced the three of spades.
"Board pairs on the turn. Ken shouldn't be TOO worried about Takeru having a three here."
"But then again, he's here with ace five off, so I guess anything's possible."
Takeru thought for a moment, then tapped the felt.
"Ken's got less than pot behind, I could definitely see a shove here."
Ken covered his mouth with his right hand, left hand playing with his chips.
"You know, if Takeru thought his ace high was the best hand on the flop, then it'd still be the best hand with that turn card...any chance he calls a shove here?"
Ken tapped the table with his left hand.
"Well, Ken does not shove, he checks behind, and...I'm not sure if Takeru could have done it, but it probably would have at least run through his mind. Really fascinating hand."
The dealer put down the four of spades.
"And that river card might LOOK like a blank, but it has given Takeru a straight!"
"Worst card EVER for Ken, he's very unlikely to think that river changed anything. At least an ace would have be a little more transparent."
Takeru pushed out a stack of seventeen purple chips.
"There's the value bet from Takeru, eighty-five thousand into one hundred and thirty-seven thousand."
Ken raised an eyebrow over at the stack, a mildly pained look on his face.
"Ken looks like he's realizing he's beat here...I don't think he can fold after playing his hand so bizarrely though. I mean, Takeru could easily be bluffing here after the line that Ken has taken."
"If you had gone all-in there, I would have snap-called," Ken said. "Now I kinda feel like you've got me. Pretty sick. I don't think I can fold though." He rolled his eyes, then pushed a handful of chips out towards the pot.
Takeru turned over his ace five.
"Oof. You got rivered."
Ken shook his head back and forth slowly. "I played this hand so good, too. Like, you have no idea." He slid his cards over towards the dealer. He closed his eyes, taking in a deep, settling breath. "I had you so bad, you have no idea."
"This is a pretty brutal one, really. Ken's down below nine big blinds."
Takeru gave a knowing smile. "Yeah, you...I couldn't put you on a hand."
"Meanwhile, Takeru's stellar run continues! He's looking to make a very big cash here at his first ever high roller event!"
OOO
~Takeru~
"You know, that actually kind of gets on my nerves," Takeru said as he came to a stop right in front of the railing, looking over at Ken, Hikari, and Daisy. "I'm a...I'm not an eleventh place kind of guy, I'm a final table sort of guy. Eleventh place, not so good."
"Well, I just feel horrible for you," Ken replied dryly. "Quintupling your buy-in, terrible thing to happen."
"Yeah, but I feel like I felt just a tiny bit short of the real big payjumps," Takeru said. "If I had just held on for maybe another...half-hour, I could have really made a big score."
"Because there's absolutely nothing big about a hundred thousand dollar profit," Daisy said. "Alright, champ, I wanna go tour the castle, are we done here?"
Takeru glanced around the poker room. "Well, actually, before we—"
"S-sir?!"
A short woman with bright red hair pushed her way through the building crowd around the railing, making her way inbetween large, crammed-together bodies.
"Ah, here we go," Takeru said, reaching into his jacket pocket. "Lauren, I believe I saw your name up on the board, twentieth?"
"That's right," she said, finally pushing over next to Takeru. "Twentieth. Eighty-four thousand."
"You don't do that well by accident!" Ken said, reaching out and patting her shoulder. "Well done, better than I did."
"If I can be as good one day as you are right now, sir, it'd be beyond even my wildest dreams," Lauren replied, turning towards Ken.
"Oh, man, so formal," Takeru said. "Anyways, let's do this the civilized way." He pulled his personal assistant out of his pocket. "Not much technology in this city, let's make sure we remember we're not cavemen."
"This city is beautiful," Daisy protested. "Don't knock it. It's like something out of a fairy tale. I'd live here in a heartbeat if the opportunity came up."
"Sure, I would too, if they'd let me live in the castle," Takeru said with a laugh. "Now, I believe forty percent of your payout is...thirty-seven thousand?"
"Thirty-seven thousand and six hundred and sixty," Lauren answered. "Already counted it out. And thank you so much for giving me the chance to play this tournament, it's...gonna do wonders for my career."
"Your career deserves it, you can play," Takeru said, tapping along his screen. "I'm happy to stake skilled amateurs. I'm giving out wings over here!"
OOO
~Hikari~
The peacefulness of her surroundings struck her. It felt almost like a different planet in comparison to her previous visits. Cities like Branson and Panok were very busy, and very flashy, with a lot of activity at all hours of the day.
In comparison, Brugal felt sparsely populated, with minimal pedestrian traffic. There were fewer lights and colors were more subdued. Cars were practically uncommon on the streets. The brisk, cold weather contrasted drastically with the high temperatures she had been exposed to in recent times.
"It's a city preserved in a time bubble," Ken mused, looking around the brown, brick buildings lining either side of the road. "It really does feel like a time machine."
"Slow down with the purple prose," Daisy said teasingly, hugging her trenchcoat more tightly around her torso. "They've still got computers and cars. Just in a pretty package."
"From the outside, it really does feel like going back a few hundred years," Ken continued. "This place was a capital of the world five hundred years ago. The kings of the old world lived here. This place used to really, really matter."
"It is nice that there's one place in the world left like this," Takeru admitted, glancing through the large pane of glass that acted as a window into one of the shops.
"Why is it still like this?" Hikari asked, looking around at the various shop windows. "Is there a reason why it doesn't change?"
"Tourism," Takeru answered. "The people who run the city hundreds of years ago decided...we've got a beautiful town, why change it to keep up with everyone else? And then one day, they looked up and realized they were centuries behind everyone else. They could have decided that was a problem, but they luckily saw an opportunity. They preserved it, sort of a monument to the old days. I don't think anyone can say they made a mistake."
"Oh, there we are," Ken said, pointing upwards as the quartet came around a street corner. "There's the old center of the universe."
Down the street, a massive structure loomed, a massive wall of stone protecting giant towers of stone. Hikari had known massive living structures in her life, of course, but this was orders of magnitude beyond anything she had known before.
"It doesn't even have a name," Daisy said. "They just call it The Castle. You say The Castle, and people know what you're talking about."
"What do you think, honey?" Takeru asked wryly. "One day, when I've got billions of dollars that I don't know what to do with, I buy The Castle, we live in there?"
Daisy smirked. "That kind of cheapens the city if it's main attraction becomes private property," she pointed out. "Ruins the whole thing."
"Yeah...that'd be a shame," Takeru admitted, shrugging. "But it'd be worth it, wouldn't it?"
"Where the hell are you gonna get billions of dollars?" Ken questioned. "That's a lot of super high rollers you're planning on winning."
"I've got more than one source of income planned, my friend," Takeru pointed out. "Alright, maybe the whole castle is out of our grasp right now, but we can definitely stay in one of the rooms."
OOO
The interior of the massive castle felt almost intimidating to stand in, typically not an attribute you would want your hotel to have. Doubtlessly, the imposing nature of the building was desirable back when it was serving it's original purpose. It was inexplicable that people actually wanted to spend the night here, much less spend large amounts of money to do so. And yet, clearly, wealthy people were willing to do so on a regular basis.
Tugging on the brass ring attached to the door, Takeru was able to slowly ease the large wooden surface open on it's hinges with a loud groan. "They don't make em like this anymore."
"Not drafty in here at all," Ken marveled, looking around at the walls of stone and mortar. "It might look like a simple build, but...the quality and worksmanship in here is pretty amazing."
Takeru looked around the room after pulling the door open, nodding slowly. "I wonder what this room used to be." He turned towards Hikari. "Hey, uh, can you spend a couple hours with Ken?"
"I charge a hundred and fifty an hour for babysitting," Ken interjected. "Money up front."
"Maybe she's the one babysitting you," Daisy said. "Ever think of that?"
"I mean, there's a zero percent chance I'm going to spend the night in here and NOT have some very intense intercourse, so may as well do it now," Takeru said, stepping into the large room and shrugging his trenchcoat off. "I'd hate to keep Hikari up at night."
"So thoughtful," Hikari said sarcastically. "Alright, you two have fun."
"Oh, your Majesty!" Daisy said with a cartoonish enthusiasm, entering the room, pulling her red scarf off of her neck as she stepped towards Takeru. "Such a beautiful palace you have for yourself!"
Ken reached over and quickly slammed the heavy brown door shut once Daisy had entered. "That's quite enough of that," he muttered.
Hikari glanced around the hallway, looking back and forth at the various decorations along the stone walls. "So...uh—"
"Don't get me wrong, if Miyako was here, I'd probably be doing the same thing," Ken admitted.
OOO
Ken held up an approximately finger-sized marble statue, carved roughly into the shape of a horse's head. "Yeah, this piece is probably the most complicated."
"This whole game is complicated," Hikari said, scratching the side of her head, looking down at the board of alternating white and black squares with assorted marble pieces atop it. "If you're looking for someone to play against, I really don't see myself as someone who can give you a good match." She held up a piece that resembled a tower on a castle. "Absolute mystery, what does this one do again?"
"Moves in straight lines," Ken explained. "It does take awhile to figure this one out, but...this is a great game. I was the best at it back at Skyridge, picked up the game from my dad when I was little. Before poker, even."
"How'd you end up playing poker professionally?" Hikari asked.
"You can't make millions of dollars playing chess," Ken answered. "This is a game for the intellectual elites, never did find the mainstream. But I love it."
"I don't think I could have handled all this even before this," Hikari said, holding up a glass bottle, the last dregs of an orange liquid down at the bottom of it. "After this? Not a chance."
"You liking that?" Ken asked, pointing at the bottle.
"Well, I drank the whole thing, so..." Hikari trailed off, setting the bottle back down. "It's pretty good, and I'm definitely feeling a little looser, so...can't complain." She looked over at Ken, squinting. "Say, uh...if you were to, like...grow a beard or mustache, would it be blue?"
Ken's eyes widened slightly, unconsciously reaching up towards his cheek. "W-what?"
"Like, if you grew facial hair, does it...does it come out blue?"
Ken blinked a few times. "Why...yes, it does," Ken admitted. "It's blue, yeah."
"You ever think about doing something with that?" Hikari asked. "Because that might be kind of cool."
"Uh...no, not really," Ken said, grimacing a bit. "Not so sure how cool it would be, really."
"A blue beard, I think...I've never seen that before," Hikari said. "I'd do that, it's...it's like a signature. Nobody else has that, you could like...corner the market on blue beards."
"Uh...kind of an interesting idea," Ken said cautiously. "I, uh...not sure that's me."
Hikari gave a little laugh. "Just, something to think about...blue mustache. I've never seen one of those before."
"Might be a reason for that," Ken said, clearing his throat. "I feel like Miyako might object. I think she likes the smooth face."
Hikari shrugged. "How would she know if you never try it?"
"I should try to get her to fly out here, actually," Ken mused. "She'd like it here, we gotta do something to celebrate final tabling the Lodden Nationals...and if he gets to hump Daisy's brains out three times every freaking day, I should be able to get some action too."
Hikari nodded. "Sounds like fun." She thought for a moment, picking up of the marble pieces, the tallest one with a small cross atop it. "How'd you, uh...how'd you two end up together?"
Ken thought for a moment. "You know, I...when I was at Skyridge, I definitely made the rounds, and I had plenty of fun, but...I wanted to be with someone who could challenge me intellectually." He smirked. "And, if I may be perfectly honest...there aren't that many people out there who can really do that."
"I believe you," Hikari replied, setting the piece back down on the board. "It's your...your voice. You have the voice of a smart person, you know? I listen to you talk for five seconds, and I just get the sense that you're one of those types."
"That's really all there is to it," Ken said, shrugging. "I don't have some...crazy story or anything. It just happened." He pointed down at the gameboard. "Chess club, actually, I remember we were both part of that. Got to know each other a bit there."
"When you...when you grow up like I did, you just never really figure out how people meet each other," Hikari mused. "I mean, there are obviously...breeders who just get matched up, but you don't really ever meet anyone in a romantic context in that world."
"Not a lot of time for that sort of thing," Ken agreed. "I can see that."
Hikari gave a tiny smile. "Hey, uh...can I...can I tell you something funny?"
Ken shrugged. "I dunno. Can you?"
Hikari's eyebrow raised a bit. "Uh..."
"I assume you mean you want to tell me something you don't want me to share with others?" Ken guessed. "I can't promise anything for sure. Of course, as long as you don't tell me that you're...planning to murder someone, I think you'll be alright."
Hikari gave a little laugh. "This is...this might be the drink talking, but...I don't know, what you said just kind of got me thinking." She glanced around. "I...I was actually thinking about Takeru." She scratched at the bridge of her nose. "Maybe it's just because he's one of the only guys I ever spend any time with, but...I just really felt something. I thought I did."
Ken blinked a few times. "W-wait, you mean...you actually thought Takeru might have been into you like that?"
"Yeah, yeah, I know," Hikari said, rolling her eyes. "I forgot...basically everything about the reality of the situation. I don't know, things have just gone so well for me lately, I just felt like...why not one more thing?"
"Huh," Ken said, glancing over to the wall to his right. "That's...well, that's pretty interesting." He pursed his lips. "You two go well together, I'll...I'll say that. And...you know, he's rich, smart, he's got a certain...charisma to him, I don't think there's anything wrong with being hopeful."
"Hopeful, sure, but...I was being dumb," she mused. "I, don't tell him, please, it's kind of embarrassing, just thought I'd share." She gave a hiccuping little laugh. "The delusions that you can have when you don't think about things."
"You know who I dreamed of dating when I was younger?" Ken said. "Kate Rodgers. So, I'm right there with you, that was...that was pretty damn dumb too."
"No, it's not, you're...your father's a millionaire, you're a successful professional poker player, you're brilliant, you...you can have anyone you want."
"No no no, I was...I was six years old," Ken said cautiously. "She was twenty-two, she was a television star, I just...wow, that takes me back. Don't ask me how I was getting these thoughts when I was six, but...man I liked her. Wanted her badly." He grinded his teeth together. "I mean, that's pretty dumb too, isn't it?"
"That's...that's different," Hikari insisted awkwardly. "That's just you being a kid, that's...I'll bet a lot of kids do stuff like that. Me, I...I should know better."
"Actually, thinking about it, at this point, it might be reasonable," Ken mused to himself. "She's not really a big-time star anymore, I'm...I'm a successful poker player, I've got millions, I'm...working on being a celebrity. If I ran into her at a pub or something, it's not..." Ken's forehead suddenly wrinkled. "Man, what the hell am I babbling about?" He rolled his eyes, then stuck his tongue out. "Ugh. That went to kind of a weird place."
Hikari shrugged. "At the Ripley estate, the Missus was getting all up in a nineteen-year-old at one point when she was forty-one." She grimaced. "Pool boy."
"Oh, yes, the cliches are often the best," Ken said with a small grin. "Pool boy."
"But...I was kind of thinking about it today." Hikari glanced around the room. "Daisy said earlier that this place, this city, it feels like something out of a fairy tale."
Ken nodded. "Yeah, it does have a certain charm to it that reminds you of those sorts of stories."
"I mean, that's the fairy tale, right?" Hikari gave a slanted smile. "It made me think about that. Like, you're in this horrible situation, everything seems hopeless...and then the handsome prince guy saves you, takes you to something better. And then you fall in love, and you go from being...a peasant or slave or whatever, to being a princess. That's...it's what happened to me! Well, almost."
Ken bit down lightly on his lower lip, glancing over towards the wall, in the general direction of where Takeru and Daisy were currently holed up. "Interesting."
"Just kind of made me think, that's really what it was. I thought I was...I thought I was in that fairy tale." She gave a small sigh. "I shouldn't be talking about this, shouldn't do this to myself, but...that's really what it was. I thought I was in a fairy tale. I like those stories."
Ken thought for a moment, then reached over the chessboard, patting her on the shoulder. "Hey, uh...there's nothing wrong with that. Look, I...trying to be objective here, if I was you, if I was in your position...I'd probably think about the same things." He leaned in a bit closer to her. "Besides, he's no Prince. Trust me."
"Yeah, but...he is pretty cool," Hikari said. "I, I'm over it, believe me, but being in a place like this just made me think about it."
"You know, he'd be...he'd be lucky to have you," Ken said. "I really believe that. You shouldn't feel bad about thinking that, really."
"Yeah. He's just...he's just luckier to have her." She pointed in the general direction of the wall that divided their room with Takeru's room. "What can you do?"
Ken's brow furrowed, apparently deep in some sort of thought. "Yeah."